Although Vucevic didn't play when the Magic played the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday at Quicken Loans Arena, Vucevic and team officials were pleased that his ankle isn't injured as badly as first feared.

"At first, I thought it would be a pretty bad one, the way it was hurting," Vucevic said. "But, then, I guess all the treatment we did, all the icing and stuff — I spent New Year's icing it — it was worth it. When I woke up in the morning, I was kind of hesitant to step on it to see how it feels, but it felt pretty good. It was painful, but not as bad as I thought it would be."

Vucevic made the trip with his teammates to snowy Northeast Ohio, and he tested his ankle on the court about 90 minutes before tipoff.

Vucevic missed four consecutive games from Dec. 3-9 after he sprained the same ankle when he accidentally stepped on a courtside cameraman.

That experience prompted him to fear the worst when he reinjured the ankle against the Golden State Warriors on Dec. 31.

"At the moment, when it happened, I thought it was pretty bad," he said. "It was hurting pretty bad. I was trying to walk it off, but I couldn't."

Irving's skillsCavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving sat out the game because of a knee contusion.

But, since he wasn't ruled out till about 5:15 p.m., the Magic prepared as if Irving would play.

"He has a great ability to control the basketball, to finish at the rim, put pressure on you, and when he's making shots, he's extremely difficult to guard," Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said. "But his handle is almost video-game-like at different stretches of the game."

Friendly funPoint guard Jameer Nelson and big man Jason Maxiell have become good friends since Maxiell signed with the Magic in July.

On Thursday, Nelson playfully teased Maxiell about the goggles Maxiell wears during games.

When a Magic TV reporter was interviewing Maxiell about the rebounding ability of Cavaliers big man, Anderson Varejao, Nelson saw a comedic opportunity.

"Varejao can see himself in Maxiell's goggles," Nelson blurted out.

Maxiell started at center in Vucevic's place.

Big Ten countryIndiana University alumnus Victor Oladipo and Purdue University alumnus E'Twaun Moore are used to playing in Ohio because of their Big Ten matchups against Ohio State.

Oladipo feels at home in Midwest arenas.

"It was a great place to play basketball in," Oladipo said. "This area, from Ohio State to Michigan State to Michigan, this is a good basketball area and it's a good basketball conference."

Winter wonderlandNortheast Ohio faced a winter-weather advisory on Thursday as temperatures hovered around 20 degrees and snow fell on the area.

Many flights scheduled to leave Cleveland Hopkins International Airport were canceled or delayed. Vaughn said the weather prompted him to ask the team's traveling secretary and equipment manager, Sid Powell, whether the team's charter would be able to fly back to Central Florida after the game.

Team officials didn't expect any problems.

jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and follow him on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins.